Bottle cap and the method of making same



Feb. 6, 1923.

` 1%44514. C. E. MCMANUS.

BOTTLE'CAP AND THE METHOD DF MAKING SAME. FILED MAY 28| 1921- to the shell while it is Patented Feb. 5, i923.

UNITE@ STATES CHARLES E. MOIVIANUS, OF NEW YORK, 1\`|'. Y.

BOTTLE CAP AND THE METHOD 0F MAKING SAME.

Application ledllay 28, 1921. Serial No. $73,428.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that lf, CHARLES E. MOMANUS, a citizen of the United States. residing at the borough of Manhattan. in the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful ilmprovements in Bottle Caps and the Methods of Making Same, of which the following isa specication, reference being had, therein to the accompanying drawings, which form a part thereof.

My invention relates to bottle caps and the method of making same, and more particularly to acap consisting of a metallic shell having a skirt by means of which it is attached to the neck of a bottle, and a cushion disk within and cemented to the shell land adapted to be seated against the top of the neck of a bottle to make a gas and liquid tight joint.

Heretofore it has been the common practice in this art to employ a metallic shell having -a fluteel skirt and a cylindrical portion withinY which a cushion disk usually made of cork, or of what is known as cork composition, has a close fit, one face of the disk being bonded to the inner top of a shell by means of a suitable cement applied directly to the shell and to the disk, or by means of a paper collet coated on both sides with the cementing compound. ln applying the cement directly to the shell, it has been the alternative practice to spot the sheets of tin from which the shells are made wit-h this cement, or to apply the cement passing through the assembling machine.

It has also been a common practice to coat the entire surface of the cushion disk with paraflin, to close the surface voids, and to ensure the impermeability of the disk. The use of paraffin necessitates the employment of a special cementing compound, and

in a measure interferes with that permanent bond between the shell and the disk which is desirable as preventing the separation of these members when applying thecap to a bottle, particularly with manually operative capping machines.

With the above prior art conditions in mind, l have produced a closure cap wherein the exposed surface only of the disk is provided vvith a superficial coating of a finishing wax compound, thus not only ensuring the desired impermeability of the disk togas andliquid from the bottlecontents, but permitting the production of capswherein the disks will be uniformly and firmly bonded to the shell. The time interval required for the assembling of a cap embodying my invention is also much reduced as a result of the facility with -which the untreated surface of the disk may be bonded to the shell. Furthermore, the surfacing. compound may be applied to the exposed surface of the disk with regard only to the quantity thereof required to impart the' desired finish to this surface and to close any voids which might lead to the presence of leakers in bottles to which the caps are applied, the destruction of the film of wax upon the surface of the disk adjacent the inner top of the shell in bondingthe disk thereto, requiring no consideration.

The method l employ in assemblingcaps embodying my invention eliminates the step of parafiining thel disks, which has heretofore. been common in the art, and other steps for ensuring the proper distribution of the paraflin about the surface of the disk. The method l employ also ensures substantial uniformity in the finish of all disks.

The invention consists primarily in a bottle cap embodying therein askirtedv metallic shell. a cushion disk, a binding stratum between said disk and t-he inner top of said shell, and a stratum of an innocuous surfacing compound impermeable bythe gas and liquid contents of a bottle, applied only to the exposed surface of said disk, and to such other novel characteristics, and to the novel method of producing said cap, all as hereinafter set forth and described, and more particularly pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

Referring to the drawings,

Fig. l is a section through an ordinary metallic shell as commonly used in the production of closure caps;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view through a composition cork disk adapted to be assembled in the shell;

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view of the completely assembled and finished cap; and

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the method of assembling the cap.

Like letters refer to like parts throughout the several views.

In the embodiment of mv invention shown in the drawings, the Shel c is shown as 35 v to the inner top of the shell a soa-s to resist displacement of the cork disk while the' being of the ordinary iuted skirt type extensively Iused vfor closure caps for bottles, although it is not my intention to limit the invention to the use of shells of this particular type. The portion of the shell adjacent Ythe top a thereof is cylindrical as shown at a2, the top a itself being of concaveconvex lform as is usual with such shells.

The cushion disk b is the usual cork disk and may be produced either from natural corkv or from granular cork, the granules of which have a thin surface coating ofga binding lmaterial which is capable of beingl vulcanized or cured at an elevated temperature, and when so vulcanized or cured has binder about each granule of cork is sufiiciently thin to cause no material reduction in the area of the cork presented toward the shell when composition cork is used.

Between the surface of the disk b and the. inner surface of the to a of the shell is a stratum of 'any suitab e binding material or cement, indicated at c in the drawings, by means of which said disk is firmly bonded cap is being applied to a bottle. The strat- 11m c of adhesive is very thin, its thickness being exaggerated'in the drawings.

.The employment of a disk cemented to the shell in the manner described is common to all closure caps of this type lnow and heretofore used, a`nd consequently I make no claim of invention of this characteristic of the cap considered alone.

The disk Z9 has upon the exposed surface thereof, a thin stratum of a finishing wax compound Z Which has the two-fold effect of closing any voids or pores in this 'surface of the disk so as to jmake it impermeable by the gas and liquid contents of a bottle to which the cap is applied, and giving a neat,

V smooth finish to the disk. Any desired suitf able wax may-be used forforming the stratum d, a cerasine wax composition being preferably used, which composition has included therein a bleaching agent, which willv act to brighten the cork beneath the' surface stratum, this stratum excluding air from the exposed surface of the disk so as to always keep this surface clean, and protect it against discoloration from oxidation.

It is -essential that the stratum d be limited to the exposed surface'` of the disk Zil the assembling machine, or by since if the surface ofthe disk adjacent the top a be so coated, there is always likelihood of an improper bond between the disk andthe shell, as in articles the cost of which is but a fraction of a cent, careful inspection to detect defective caps is impracticable, and a large number of defective caps would make the cost 'of production excessive.

In producing caps embodying my invention, I employ a novel method by which the stratum d may be applied to the cork disk without additional steps inthe process of making. the cap, and not requiring any additional'handling thereof as compared with the present methods of producing such caps. In fact by the method. of my invention, I am enabled to eliminate that handling of the disks b incidental tocoating same with paraffin in the manner heretofore employed.

As heretofore stated, the manner of applying the adhesive or cement to the inner surface of the top a of the shell a is that which has heretofore been practiced, and the character of this cement is immaterial to the invention, it being possible to use the cements which have long been in useheretofore, hav-I ing either a resinous, a casein or an albuminous base combined with other ingredients to facilitate the handling of the cement and lthe rapid hardening thereof. VThe cement may be applied by spotting the sheets of tin before the shell is formed by a punch press, by'being applied to the' inner surface of the top. a in liquid form, while passing through being applied thereto through the medium of a paper collet coated therewith. For the purposes of my method it is merely essential that the shell shall have applied thereto a suitable adhesive or cement prior to the introduction of the cork disk tliereinto.

In the diagrammatic showing of Fig. 4, I have illustrated the method as including applying liquid cement to the shell while it is passing 4through the assembling machine.'

After the cement has been thus applied, the cork disk b is delivered to the shell upon the cement contained therein, and thereafter a wax composition is sprayed or dropped upon the exposed surface of the cork disk,

vthe stratum d being formed of this composition.

After the wax composition has been applied to the disk b, the shell a and its con-- tained disk is simultaneously subjected to heat and pressure with the two-fold result that the wax composition is melted and thoroughly diffused' about the exposed surface of the disk b and flowed into any voids or interstices adjacent this surface, and the cement or adhesive is so conditioned as to se- Y `cure a firm binding of the disk and the inner top of the shell. The shell a and its disk4 are subjected to a vcontinuous heat iic l and pressure for a sufficient interval to secure the results above referred to, after which'` the shell is exposed to atmosphere, or d the composition wax surfaces.

The method of my invention may be practiced in the ordinary bottle cap assembling machine, requiring merely the addition of the mechanism for applying the wax composition to the cork intermediate the point of delivery of the disk to the shell and the finishing head, wherein'heat and .pressure are applied thereto.

ln this manner additional handlingof the dis or the cap and additional steps in-assembling and finishing same are avoided and the application of the finishing surface does not in any way prolong the" time required to completely assemble and finish a cap, since the wax composition willbe applied to the disk of one cap while the preceding operation of delivering the cork to a shell is being effected by another mechanism.

It is not my intention to claim broadly the application of a finishing wax surface to cork disks used in closure caps, but I believe it to be broadly-new -to provide a-cap vin which only the exposed surface thereof is s0 coated, and` to provide a method whereby this coating may be applied Without any additional handling of the cap.

These characteristics ofmy invention are ofconsiderable importance,v since they per- .mit the use of cork disks' Without intermediate handling and in the condition in which they are produced by the cutting or the slicing machines according to whether the disks are formed'from'sheetsor from rods, and` have a surface upon which the cementing medium will readily act in binding the disk to the shell. Havingdescribed the invention, what I to have protected by Letters Patent, is l l `1. A bottle cap embodying therein a.

-' skirted metallic shell, a cushion disk of substantially the same diameter as, and coverin te entire inner surface of, the-to of sai sell, whereby a portion of said sk adjacent the edge thereof is' adapted to seal against the top of a bottle, andthe central portion thereof protects the metal of the shell from the contents of the bottle, abinding stratum between-said disk and the inner top of said shell, and a stratum of an innocuous surfacing compound impermeable by the' gas and liquid contents of a bottle, applied only to the exposed surface of said disk.-

2. A bottle cap embodying therein a skirted metallic shell, a cushion disk, abinding stratum between said disk and theinner top and a bleaching medium, applied only to the exposed surface of said disk.

4. The herein described method o-f making bottle caps consisting in delivering a cushion disk' to a skirted metallic shell having a cement or adhesive in the inner top thereof, applying wax to theexposed surface of said disk and thereafter applying heat at an elevated temperature and pressure to the disk and the shell to rsimultaneously bond the disk to the shell and diffuse the wax about the entire exposed surface of the disk.

5. The herein described method of making bottle caps consisting in delivering a cushion disk to a skirted metallic shell having a cement wax 'to the exposed surface of said disk,

thereafter applying heat at an elevated temperature and pressure to the disk and the shell to simultaneously bond the disk to the shell and diuse the wax about the entire exposed surface of the disk, and thereafter subjecting the caps to a lower temperature -to harden thel cement or adhesive and the wax.

6. -The herein described method of making bottle caps consisting of successively delivering a cementvto a 'skirted metallic shell, de-

livering a`cushion disk to the shell,Q apply- ,ing wax to the exposed surface of said disk lllll perature and pressure to the disk and the shell to simultaneously bond the disk to the f shell and diffuse the wax about the entire exposed surface of the disk, and thereafter subjecting the caps toa lower temperature to harden the cement or adhesive and the wax.

ln 'witness whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature, in the presence of two rsubscribing Witnesses, this 18th day of May,

CHARLES E. MCMANUS. Witnesses:

F. T. WENTWORTH, Filmus Kon 

